Spend Matters Afternoon Coffee

Setting a Great Compliance Standard for Pilots...FAA Chief Babbitt Resigns Following Drunken Driving Arrest -- Federal Aviation Administrator Randy Babbitt announced Tuesday that he has resigned following his arrest in Virginia on drunken-driving charges. Babbitt said he did not want to "let anything cast a shadow on the outstanding work done 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by my colleagues at the FAA." He said he submitted his resignation Tuesday, "and it has been accepted."

"Butt Dialing" = more dangerous than we thought!"Butt-Dialing" Wreaks Havoc on 911 Calls -- Operators in emergency call centers are required to remain on the line until the call drops, which can sometimes be several minutes if the user remains unaware their phone has made a call. Once the call is disconnected, the operator must then return the call and try to determine whether there is a true emergency. In two cases in Illinois, emergency personnel were dispatched to look for a caller and verify their safety, finding both times that the call was unintentional.

$$$$$$£125m boost for supply chain firms -- Companies have been urged to bid for money from a new £125 million fund set up by the Government to boost growth in the manufacturing supply chain. Ministers said the initiative was aimed at helping existing firms and to encourage new suppliers to manufacture goods in the UK. Sectors including energy renewables and low carbon technology will be targeted by the fund, with applications starting in the new year.

Santa's Supply Chain...some humor from SciQuest.What if Santa Had a Supply Chain Problem? -- Any way you look at it, Santa Claus faces the most daunting supply chain and logistics challenge in the world – and as the single-source supplier of all things Santa, he cannot fail. Think about it: there are 1.9 billion children in the world (source: U.N. Dept of Economic and Social Affairs), and during one single 24-hour period Santa must deliver a mind-boggling variety of toys to these most-demanding of all customers. His supplier list is almost infinite, his customers are widely dispersed and his central warehouse location is the very definition of remote. It begs the question: What would happen if Santa had a Supply Chain problem?